The labour movement and democratization in the Philippines: a template for Southeast Asia

1

• The labour movement and democratization in the
  Philippines a template for Southeast Asia?

Verna Dinah Q. Viajar Department of Political
Science University of the Philippines
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Democratization

• typically equalizing democracy with the
  existence of free and fair elections combined
  with a minimum of civil and political liberties
  (Kinnvall, et.al, eds. 2002) and the restoration
  of formal political institutions from
  authoritarian control.

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A more substantive meaning

• creation, extension and practice of social
  citizenship throughout the particular national
  territory because democracy requires popular
  consent, popular participation, accountability
  and a practice of rights, tolerance and
  pluralism (Kinnvall, et.al, eds. 2002).

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Democratization in SEA

• The Philippines, as well as Singapore, Malaysia,
  Indonesia and Thailand, were clustered among the
  countries with pseudo-and low quality
  democracies in the region (Case, 2004).
• Pseudo-democracies refers to countries where
  elections are regularly held but their conduct
  and results are to a varying degree rigged and
  restrictive political space for opposition
  parties and civil society to mobilize

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Low quality democracies

• a highly partisan use of state funding and
  facilities, manipulations in electoral exercise,
  as well as other executive abuses, shadowy
  business relations, military prerogatives, and
  judicial weaknesses that generate corruption and
  policy ineffectiveness (Case, 2004).

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Philippine case on democratization

• While political institutions were restored after
  the Marcos dictatorship, political autonomy and
  credibility of these institutions remain weak
• The Philippine state have difficulty to
  consolidate as it is continuously challenged by
  opposing political forces in society
• And continue to follow a neoliberal development
  path

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Philippine case on democratization

• The democratization processes in the Philippines
  remains restrictive and limited.
• Political space for social movements such as the
  trade unions, are confronted with a neo-liberal
  state that constricts civil society intervention
  in shaping the development frame in the country.
  

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Philippine trade union movement

• Trade unions in the Philippines trace its roots
  more than 100 years ago at a time of great
  revolutionary ferment against Spanish
  colonialism.
• Borne out of the liberation movement, the role of
  trade unions since then has been ascribed as
  political in nature and a movement towards
  emancipation.

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Philippine trade union movement

• The advent of American colonialism fractured the
  growing Philippine trade union movement by early
  1900s.
• This political cleavage would characterize the
  division of trade unions until today following
  two streams of unionism economic unionism and
  political/nationalist trade unionism.

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Trade unionism in the period of neoliberal
globalization

• Despite the history and experience of trade
  unionism in the Philippines, their influence is
  weak and their growth is further weakening.
• Decreasing trade union membership and influence
  at the national and global levels contribute in
  limiting union resources to strengthen
  themselves.

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Trade unionism in the period of neoliberal
globalization

• The current strain of globalization is
  characterized as neoliberal and in effect
  diminishes trade union strength.
• Globalization restructures production processes
  as they become more sensitive to market
  fluctuations and intense competition which in
  turn restructures the world of work.

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The neo-liberal project in globalization

• Karl Polanyi said, Laissez-faire was planned
  (Polanyi cited in Scott 1997).
• While Marxist analysis points to globalization as
  the logic of capitalism, Scott derived from the
  works of Polanyi the argument that contemporary
  globalization is part of a neo-liberal project of
  the right.

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Trade unions experimenting on social movement
unionism

• social movements are referred to as groups of
  people collectively acting to pursue far
  reaching transformation of society through mass
  mobilizations to exert political and economic
  influence (OBrien, et.al., 2000).
• social movement unionism mobilizes its
  rank-and-file membership for specific or broad
  political and economic gains

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Old and new social movements

• Old social movements are those that emerged along
  class lines with clear political agenda and
  vision of society (i.e. trade unions, peasant
  movement)
• New social movements are the recent organized
  mass organizations with specific political goals
  (i.e. womens movement, environmentalist groups,
  youth groups).

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Prospects and way forward

• Trade union action as a political pressure
  expresses the tension emanating from class
  conflict and industrial disputes.
• trade unionism becomes revolutionary when
  confronted with repression trade unions become
  corporatist when confronted with social and
  economic decisions (Touraine 1987).

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Prospects and way forward

• At this time of turbulent global political
  economy, trade unions need to advance and shape
  alternative development paradigms
• Thus, trade unions need to re-imagine themselves
  and renew their strength and relevance as active
  agents of change from the working class.

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Alternatives

• Trade unions and other social movements with
  their visions of society need to participate in
  state-building, nation-building and crafting the
  development paradigm
• Consolidation of the various social and political
  forces in society to forge a critical mass in the
  practice of democratization